Paulinho Da Viola - Biography
Paulinho da Viola may not be widely known outside of Brazil, but he’s considered a national treasure in his homeland. His smooth silky voice and expertise on guitar, cavaquinho, and mandolin marks him as a master musician and one of the finest composers of traditional sambas. In the 70s, he revived choro a traditional all acoustic highly improvisational instrumental style. He has recorded infrequently, but lovers of Brazilian music treasure his albums. In 1996 EMI Brazil reissued 11 of his classic albums, and in 2008 he won belated recognition from the Grammys when he took home the award for Best Samba/Pagode Album for Paulinho Da Viola: Acoustico MTV (2007 Sony International.)
Da Viola was born in Rio, into a musical family that lived in the neighborhood called Botafogo. His father, Benedicto Cesar Ramos Faria, was a guitarist and member of the legendary Época de Ouro, the best choro ensemble in Brazil, an organization that still performs today. Da Viola picked up guitar from his father and played along with family friends like Pixinguinha, Jacob do Bandolim, Tia Amélia, and Canhoto da Paraíba. He took lessons from Jacob do Bandolim, one of Brazil’s master guitarists. He played choro and samba in his youth and started the Bloco dos Foliões, a small samba school, when he was 17.
Like his father, da Viola played music at night and on weekends, while working in a bank. In 1964, he met the poet Hermínio Bello de Carvalho who invited him to dinner. De Carvalho played da Viola the records of Zé Ketti, Elton Medeiros, Anescar do Salgueiro, Carlos Cachaça, and Cartola. They clicked and started writing song together and landed tracks on albums by Isaurinha Garcia (“Duvide-o-dó”) and Elizete Cardoso (“Valsa da Solidão.”) They hung out at the Zicartola, where da Viola began performing his songs, as well as covers of other composers. With the songwriters and performers Oscar Bigode, Zé Ketti, Anescar do Salqueiro, Nelson Sargento, Elton Medeiros, and Jair do Cavaquinho he created the group A Voz do Morro. The band made three groundbreaking albums Roda de Samba (1965 Musidisc Brazil), Roda de Samba 2 (1966 Musidisc Brazil), and Os Sambistas (1968 Musidisc Brazil.)
In 1965 de Carvalho produced Rosa de Ouro, a samba review featuring singer Clementina de Jesus and da Viola. Two albums documenting the show featuring the playing of da Viola, Rosa de Ouro (1965 Odeon Brazil) and Rosa de Ouro, Vol. 2 (1967 Odeon Brazil.) His first album under his own name, Paulinho da Viola (1968 Odeon Brazil) and featured the famous samba “Coisas do Mundo, Minha Nega.” His next album Foi Um Rio Que Passou em Minha Vida (1970 Odeon EMI Brazil) included “Nada de Novo,” “Sinal Fechado” and the title track, which became the best selling hit of the year. In 2000 the track was included in the list of the 30 most important songs in Brazilian pop history. His other hit albums of the 70s include Paulinho Da Viola (1971 Odeon EMI Brazil), Nervos de Aço (1973 Odeon EMI Brazil), Amor a Natureza (1974 Odeon EMI Brazil), Paulinho Da Viola (1975 Odeon EMI Brazil), the double LP Memorias Cantando (1976 Odeon EMI Brazil), and Paulinho Da Viola (1978 Odeon EMI Brazil.) In 1973 he also from a choro group, Época de Ouro, to introduce the old music to a new generation of listeners.
In 1981 da Viola was signed by WEA International and produced Paulinho Da Viola (1981 Atlantic), A Toda Hora Rola Uma História (1982 Atlantic), and Prisma Luminoso (1983 Atlantic), which he considers his best album. The record business in Brazil started focusing more on rock than traditional samba in the 80s. As a traditionalist da Viola resisted efforts to get him to change his style and he stayed out of the studio until he made Eu Canto Samba (1989 RCA/BMG Brazil), which won four Sharps (Brazilian Grammys.) Seven years later, he made another classic album of traditional sambas Bebadosamba (1996 RCA/BMG International.) It went platinum in Brazil and won another five Sharps. He produced a show based around the album and his greatest hits in 1997. The music from the show is featured on the double disc set Bebadosamba: Gravado ao Vivo (1996 RCA/BMG International.) In 1999, with the help of Toquinho, (long time musical partner of Vinicius de Moraes), he mounted a show built around his hits of the 60s called Sinal Aberto. They recorded the show on the double disc live album Sinal Aberto (1999 RCA/BMG International.) Da Viola toured Europe in 2000, playing to sold out houses, and in 2007 emerged from semi-retirement to play an acoustic show for MTV Brazil’s Acoustico (Unplugged) show. Paulinho Da Viola: Acoustico MTV (2007 Sony BMG International) won a Latin Grammy for Best Samba/Pagode Album.
